A national survey measuring patient satisfaction about health services will be carried out soon, said Dr Aisha Abdullah Alaali, accreditation manager at the Quality Department for Healthcare and Patient Safety Affairs at the Qatar Supreme Council of Health (SCH). In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Alaali stressed the importance of the national survey in placing the patient “as the focus and as a crucial point of reference in formulating planning processes and ensuring constant improvement in line with the SCH Quality Department’s goals”. The survey’s results will be studied followed by the provision of appropriate advisory to the institutions concerned, she said, adding that a primary database would be created and used as a baseline for comparison with future surveys. Conducted on all patients and healthcare users in both public and private sectors, the survey will include child and adult emergency services, women and childbirth, as well as primary healthcare. The project would last for six months, she said. Results will be released through different local media outlets and scientific magazines. The survey will be conducted yearly in future. The SCH will provide consultative services for development and advancement, she said. “The council aims to move services forward with this project, setting quality standards, including criteria for service usage, general safety, optimum resource allocation, treatment effectiveness, focusing on the patient, and continuous support for related social institutions like the Qatar Diabetes Association and the Qatar Cancer Society in addition to bolstering a professional environment for these sectors.” The SCH would hold an international conference on quality and patient safety next April, Alaali said. “It will be a great forum for knowledge exchange.” The SCH official said that a project on private hospitals acquiring international accreditation was in its last stages, remarking that three hospitals chose Canadian accreditation and one Australian.